Working with Funeral Parlours to Arrange for Cremation

When a loved one dies, individuals must meet with directors at funeral parlours. These directors describe the types of services that can be offered. A funeral arrangements checklist is provided and family members are informed of how a body can be secured in a casket or how it can be cremated. The funeral home Rochester NY also indicates the costs of the different services. When arrangements are made, individuals will have to figure in costs for funeral plots, flowers, and the funeral service itself in the funeral planning. When costs are considered, many people arranging a funeral choose to have family members cremated. If you are unfamiliar with the process of cremation that is completed by funeral parlours, read through the points to familiarize yourself with the service.

1. Cremation can be completed on almost any body, but funeral homes typically cremate a deceased person within about one week of a death. Cremation is handled directly after paperwork from medical examiners or coroners are sent to the funeral home. Medical records are then looked over so that special arrangements can be made to remove medical implants from the body. This is required for safety reasons because some implants explode or melt during cremation.

2. Cremation may or may not be handled at the funeral home. Some funeral homes have their own retorts on site, but some do not. When furnaces are not located within the funeral home, facilities are utilized at a cemetery. Cemeteries routinely cremate bodies and they make sure that remains are all carefully labeled to reduce the incidence of mix ups. Bodies are held in flammable caskets before and during the cremation process to help with sanitary concerns.

3. Cremation takes about three hours to complete. The entire process will occur within the retort or furnace itself after the body is locked inside. The retort may be warmed before the cremation is started because heat above 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit is required to completely cremate a body.

4. Cremation at funeral parlours creates between four and nine pounds of ash material. The ash comes from mineral matter from the bones. Ash is processed and then secured in an urn that is later handed off to family members. Once cremation is over, burial plots, mausoleums, or home shrines are secured for the remains. If remains are to be buried or placed in a mausoleum, then an urn may not be necessary. Bags and boxes are used to hold the remains in these cases.